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MUMBAI | 16 MAY 2020 1

Covid vaccine will take Damanis raise

IN BRIEF
Facebook acquires animated
graphics start-up GIPHY staketo19.9%in
Facebook said on Friday it had
acquired the animated graphics
start-up GIPHY and would integrate
the company in its Instagram visual
2 yrs, says Novartis CEO India Cements
social network. Terms of the deal
were not disclosed, but the news
Some firms are already testing vaccines on humans Cipla’s PBT dips 35%; UJJVAL JAUHARI
New Delhi, 15 May

India bizgrows 12%

site Axios said the California-based REUTERS
tech giant was paying $400 million. GIPHY is known for its use Zurich, 15 May “THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST Radhakishan S Damani,
of stickers and other products using the graphics interchange CLINICAL STUDIES ON THE promoter of DMart chain of

format or GIFs. “GIPHY, a leader in visual expression and
creation, is joining the Facebook as part of the Instagram
team,” Facebook said. “GIPHY makes everyday conversations
more entertaining, and so we plan to integrate their GIF library
into Instagram and our other apps so that people can find just
the right way to express themselves.”
L&T Finance reports
39.15% dip in Q4
profit before tax
L&TFinanceHoldings’conso-
lidatedprofitbeforetax (PBT)
dippedby39.15percentto
~455.94crorefortheMarch
quarteronadditionalprovisions
madedue totheCovid-19
pandemic. BS REPORTER<
HMSI retails over
21K 2-wheelers
in a week of ops
HondaMotorcycleandScooter
India(HMSI)saidithadretailed
over21,000two-wheelerssince
resumingoperationsthisweek.
Nearly250,000customershave
gottheirtwo-wheelersserviced
PTI
Will invest ~800 cr
in 5 yrs after moving
to India, says Lava
Lava International said it
planned to invest ~800 crore
over the next five years to scale
up its mobile phone develo-
pment and manufacturing in
India, after shifting its China
operations to the country. PTI<
M&M Finance’s
pre-tax profit
dips 67% in Q4
Mahindra&Mahindra
FinancialServicesreporteda
67percentyear-on-yeardipin
standaloneprofitbeforetaxto
~292.5croreintheMarch
quarter,owingtotheCovid-19
A
ny vaccine to fight the new coron-
avirus will not be ready for use for at
least two years, the chief executive of
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis ,
which no longer makes vaccines itself, told
a German newspaper.
Novartis sold its vaccine business in
2015 to GlaxoSmithKline, one of the many
companies around the world now racing
to make a drug. Some companies are
already testing vaccine candidates on
humans. “The results of the first clinical
studies on the vaccine candidates should
be available in autumn,” Novartis Chief
Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan said.
“If everything goes as we hope, it will take
24 months before we have a vaccine.”
For instance, Moderna Inc has sped up
plans for its experimental Covid-19 vaccine
and said it expected to start a late-stage tri-
al in early summer. But experts have said no
vaccine is expected to be ready for use until
at least 2021, as they must be widely tested
in humans before being administered to
hundreds of millions, if not billions, of peo-
ple to prevent infection.
Narasimhan, who headed development
at Novartis’ vaccine business before the
Basel-based company concluded it was too
Drug maker Cipla on Friday reported a
VACCINE CANDIDATES 35 per cent dip in profit before tax to
SHOULD BE AVAILABLE IN ~327.9 crore for the March quarter,
AUTUMN. IF and announced its plan to raise funds
by up to ~3,000 crore through issue of
EVERYTHING equity shares or foreign currency
GOES AS WE convertible bonds or other financial
HOPE, IT instruments. The net profit came
WILL TAKE down 33 per cent to ~246 crore, lower
than Street expectations. Emkay
24 MONTHS Global had expected a 3 per cent dip
BEFORE WE in profit for the quarter. The total
HAVE A revenue from operation was down
VACCINE” marginally (1 per cent) to ~4,376 crore.
It posted a 33 per cent dip in Ebitda
VAS NARASIMHAN, for the quarter to ~652 crore.
NOVARTIS CEO
Cipla’s domestic business did
reasonably well in a quarter hit by
Covid-19. The India business posted a
decent 12 per cent year-on-year jump
during the quarter, while it grew by
small to keep and should be unloaded, said about 5 per cent in the full financial
producing enough vaccine for the world year. This was a third straight quarter
would also be a challenge. that the India prescription business
He said building a new factory usual- clocked double-digit growth. The
ly took three or four years. “That’s way company is in the process of integr-
too long,” he said. “We have to use the ating the three business verticals in
existing production network to produce India — prescription, generic and
large quantities quickly.” consumer businesses. SOHINI DAS
supermarkets, along with
Gopikishan S Damani, has
increased the stake in India
Cements to 19.89 per cent as of
the end of March quarter.
Damani’s stake in the
cement maker stood at Radhakishan S Damani,
4.72 per cent as of December promoter of DMart
31, 2019, according to the stock
exchange data.
The move sent shares of
HOW THEY COMPARE
India Cements soaring to its India Cements sells for
52-week high of ~118.55 in intra- close to $60 a tonne
day trades, before closing with
gains of 13.2 per cent at ~114.10
Ramco Cements,
HeidelbergCement
on the BSE on Friday.
and Dalmia Bharat
“Looking at the cheap valu-
are available for
ations India Cements was avail-
able at, Damani may have $70-100 a tonne
founditattractive,”saysanana- Larger peers, ACC and
lyst at a domestic brokerage, Ambuja Cements are
not wanting to be quoted. trading around
The stock, which had been $70-100 a tonne
on a downtrend from ~220 lev-
The most profitable
els in May 2017, had fallen to
~70 in August 2019, and was player, Shree Cement
hovering around ~70–90 levels ($190 a tonne), and
till February this year. After wit- market leader,
nessing more than 50 per cent UltraTech ($127),
erosion in its market cap, it was command much
available at replacement costs
higher valuations
(enterprisevalue)ofcloseto$50 Note: Per tonne replacement cost

Made in India, for and by Indians: RIL

atthecompany'sdealerships
andauthorisedserviceoutlets
acrossthecountry,HMSIsaid. PTI<
Mahindra Lifespace
appoints new
managing director
MahindraLifespaceDeveloper
hasappointedArvind
Subramanianitsmanaging
directorandchiefexecutive
officerfromJuly1. Hewill
succeedSangeetaPrasad.
BS REPORTER<
Harley-Davidson
launches home
delivery of bikes
Harley-Davidsonsaidithad
launchedhomedeliveryfor
itsmotorcyclesbesidesextending
servicewarrantiesinthewakeof
thelockdown.Ithasformalised
the Harley-DavidsonHome
Deliveryprogram,itsaid. PTI<
disruptions. BS REPORTER<
Tata Motors plans
to raise ~1,000 cr
through NCDs
TataMotorsonFridaysaiditwas
planningtoraise~1,000crore
throughissuanceofsecurities.
Thefirmplanstoofferrated,
listed,secured, redeemable,
non-convertibledebentures
(NCDs)aggregating~1,000crore,
itsaid. PTI<
Maruti rolls out
standard operating
procedures
MarutiSuzukiIndiasaidithad
rolledoutasetofdetailed
standardoperatingprocedures
foritsover3,800servicecentres
inthecountry.TheSOPsadhere
totheadvisoriesandguidelines
stipulatedbytheCentreand
stategovernments,itsaid. PTI
AMRITHA PILLAY
Mumbai, 15 May
Ahead of its largest rights
issue, Reliance Industries
(RIL) on Friday said it is a
‘Made in India’, 'Made for
India’ and ‘Made by Indians’
company. The statement is in
line with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s call for the
nation to turn self-reliant.
In a corporate presentation
titled ‘New Reliance for a New
India’, released on Friday, RIL
termed itself as the best proxy
for India’s consumption-driv-
en and tech-propelled growth
story. The company said it had
always aligned its businesses
with national goals and prior-
ities for making India self-
reliant, strong and prosper-
ous.
The oil to telecom con-
THE INDIA PITCH
Reliance claims it is proxy for
India’s tech-led growth
At the start of a new,
unprecedented wave
of wealth creation
Omnipresent across the
Indian consumer ecosystem
Best placed to capitalise
on India’s growth
opportunity
glomerate is also preparing ness, RIL said Jio was best
the ground for its rights issue, placed to equip micro, small
which, once fully paid for, will and medium enterprises
help it raise around ~53,125 (MSMEs) with cutting-edge,
crore. The company had earli- plug-and-play, technology-
er indicated that the rights enabled tools. Finance
issue could open on May 22, Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s
subject to approvals. Wednesday media briefing on
Referring to its digital busi- the Covid-19 economic pack-
age also focused on MSME
development.
RIL also highlighted deals
with BP for its fuel retail busi-
ness and Saudi Aramco for its
oil to chemicals business, as
the largest foreign direct
investments (FDI) in these
segments.
The company added,
“Even in a challenging global
environment, marquee part-
ners and investors have shown
high degree of trust”.
In the last one month, RIL
has announced three different
deals for Jio Platforms —
Facebook agreed to invest
~43,574 crore for a 9.99 per cent
stake, Vista Equity Partners
will invest ~11,367 crore for a
2.32 per cent equity stake, and
private equity firm Silver Lake
will pick a 1.15 per cent stake
for ~5,655.75 crore.
a tonne based on FY21 estimat- valuations based on FY21 estimated
capacity Source: Brokerages
ed capacities.
Though the decline in stock
price had been in the back of
SHARE JUMPS
weak cement demand in South
India, and thereby cement BSE price in ~
price correction, the valuation
discount was significant as
compared to peers. For
instance, The Ramco Cements,
its South-based cement peer, is
trading at replacement cost of
close to $100 a tonne based on
its FY21 estimated capacities.
Others like HeidelbergCement still hold 28.26 per cent, it will
India and Dalmia Bharat are be interesting to see how the
available at replacement cost twogettogethertorunthebusi-
of$70-100pertonne.Evenafter ness,” said an analyst, “unless
Friday’s gains, India Cements is the present promoters are look-
available at close to $60 a tonne ing at an exit.” In either situa-
levels, point out analysts. tion, the development will be
Experts say that while plans positive for investors as
of Damani family are not Damanis can help improve the
known, there could be two business and valuations.
options for the ace investors. The other option, according
“Either Damanis are looking at to analysts, could be that the
operating the company. In that Damanis sell their stake at
case,giventhatthepresentpro- higher valuations to another
moters (N Srinivasan & family) interested party.

Four in a lift, facing the wall: Office etiquette in Covid times

The second of a 3-part series discusses precautions taken by firms to keep employees safe
VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO, ANEESH PHADNIS,
SOHINI DAS, PEERZADA ABRAR,
SAMREEN AHMAD & T E NARASIMHAN
Mumbai/Bengaluru/Chennai, 15 May
A buzzer to go off on a device the
moment the person wearing it
comes too close to a fellow worker is
just one of the novelties that
automotive major Daimler India
plans to adopt as its employees
trickle back to work after almost
two months.
Apps, thermal screeners,
staggered lunch hours, home-
cooked food and social-distancing
markers are some of the changes
that have greeted employees
resuming work at companies across
sectors and cities this week.
Some companies admit that
productivity could take a hit in the
initial weeks but they see the
situation stabilising in the months
ahead. At consumer goods
company Dabur, only 25-30 per
cent of staff are coming to its
corporate office in Ghaziabad. All
in-house meetings within
conference and board rooms have
been barred and crowding at
elevators, canteens and reception
areas is not permitted.
“Attendance is based on the
criticality of the function,” said
Dabur CEO Mohit
Malhotra. “Not all
members of a team come
to work every day. There
is a rotation system.
Second, the ones who
make it to work are
expected to sit in their
respective cabins. All
meetings are held on
calls in the office. Social LIFE AFTER
distancing is
maintained. Also, the LOCKDOWN
canteen is now open 2 marks on them. Feet-
through the day to allow
people to have food at any time
rather than having a fixed lunch
hour.”
The flip side of this is that
Malhotra has no idea who’s coming
or leaving. As time goes by, he said
Dabur is likely to fine-tune its new
workspace model.
At Flipkart's sprawling campus
in Bengaluru, a few hundred
employees out of the 10,000-strong
NEW BEGINNING
| Companies | Many are
are limiting working on
entry of staff new office
as offices layouts and
reopen staggering
lunch hours
workforce have turned up to find
that each of them has been assigned
a chair with their workstation
number on it to prevent the
accidental exchange of
chairs.
Staff are encouraged to
keep all their belongings in
the desk cabinet so that
sanitisation of
workstations can be done
easily. At the campus,
employees are encouraged
to maintain social
distancing in washrooms
by using alternate stalls
and washbasins with tick-
shaped stickers have been
laid out on the floors of elevators
which only four persons can use;
each of them needs to face the walls
to maintain social distancing.
Apart from this, thermal
screening at Flipkart happens at all
entry points. Corridors and
walkways have been converted into
one-way streets and pantries will
continue to be stocked with snacks
and beverages through the day to
| Some firms | Apps | Sanitization,
are using such as thermal
tech to alert Aarogya screening,
employees Setu are masks and
on social a must markers are
distancing order of the day
avoid crowding.
“We've placed high importance
on the well-being of our employees,
both physical and mental,” said
Krishna Raghavan, chief people
officer at Flipkart. “We are treating
this move as a high-priority one and
are taking a calibrated approach to
resume work.”
While rival Amazon has a work-
from-home policy till October 2,
those choosing to come to work
have to adhere to strict physical
distancing, temperature checks
and sanitisation, said Deepti
Varma, director, HR, Amazon.
Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi,
MD, Gokaldas Exports, said his
company has done away with its
biometric attendance registry,
replacing it with a manual
attendance register.
“We are working on installing a
QR code on the ID cards of
employees so that registering
attendance becomes contactless.
Workstations are also being cleaned
every few hours and half the chairs
in the office area have been
removed,” said Ganapathi.
At IndiGo, social distancing will
be implemented both in staff
shuttles and offices including
encouraging staff to avoid the lifts
and use the staircase instead.
Vistara has reorganised seating
arrangements in the office.
“Meeting rooms can be used up to
50 per cent occupancy. However,
we are strongly encouraging use of
digital conferencing facilities to
minimise contact,” said Deepa
Chadha, senior vice-president, HR
& Corporate Affairs, Vistara.
Both Vistara and Indigo have
made it mandatory for employees to
install the Aarogya Setu app. Only
those with a ‘safe’ or ‘low-risk’ status
will be allowed entry to the office.
“Forty per cent of our workforce
will have to work from home each
day,” said Raj Raghavan, senior
vice-president, HR, IndiGo.
“The operations team who
cannot work from home will work
in shifts ensuring one-hour gaps
between shifts. Staggered working
hours will be introduced for
essential non-operational teams.”
At IndiGo’s offices, company
mail and packages at the reception
desks will be disinfected before
distribution. Personal couriers will
have to be received only by
employees outside office premises.
Pharmaceutical companies who
were operating with skeleton staff
in the first three phases of the
lockdown are now gearing up to
welcome more people. Lupin,
for instance, has doubled the
medical and life insurance covers
of its employees according to
Yashwant Mahadik, chief human
resources officer.
The drug major has also
developed an internal healthcare
declaration app which is tied to its
attendance system to inform line
managers and HR about the health
of their teams.
Based on the details declared
and internal feedback, the
attendance system permits entry
into the office.
Lupin is also encouraging
people to take personal transport
as well as doubling the number of
employee buses. Staff have been
asked to bring their own food,
for now.
IT companies pad up to
reopen offices for staff
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering has launched a
sanitisation walkway, joining forces to fight the
Covid-19 pandemic. These walkways have already
been installed at Wipro’s campuses and factories
NEHA ALAWADHI, DEBASIS MOHAPATRA
& SAI ISHWAR
New Delhi/Bengaluru/Mumbai,
15 May
With further relaxation in lock-
down expected from next week,
IT services companies are
preparing to allow employees,
though in a phased manner,
to come for work.
Apart from issuing guide-
lines for employees with dos
and don’ts, the companies are
using technology-led solutions
to ensure social distancing at
workplaces. Tech Mahindra, for
example, is using voiced-
enabled facial recognition sys-
tem for employee attendance
in place of card swiping system
that involved physical touch
points. The company will also
encourage the employees to use
“canteen app” wherein a user
will be sent notification once
the food is ready, thus elimi-
nating unnecessarily crowding
in canteens and cafeterias.
“While our facial recogni-
tion system for attendance is
being voice-enabled, our asso-
ciates will have to use the in-
house ‘Book My Seat’ applica-
tion that will ensure social
distancing while allocating
GETTING READY
Tech Mahindra using voice-
enabled facial recognition
system for employee attendance
‘Book My Seat’ application to
ensure social distancing while
allocating seats to staffers
Staff visiting HCL Tech campuses
to go through a mobile-enabled
self-assessment
TCS, Infosys using contact-less
thermal screening process
Wipro encouraging digital
payments at cafeterias
seats,” said Harshvendra Soin, checks,sanitizedofficevehicles,
chief people officer at Tech alternative seating arrange-
Mahindra. The firm said it had ments in official transport,
restricted meetings involving among others, in order to
more than five people. ensure employee safety.
Noida-based HCL Tech- “As lockdowns begin to ease
nologies has disabled the access across India, our CEO Salil
cards that were earlier used by Parekh, along with a few
employees to login. Now, any- Infoscions, get back to our cam-
one visiting an HCLT campus puses that are equipped and
will have to take a mobile prepared for the ‘new normal’,”
enabled self-assessment. Infosys had tweeted on May 7.
Also, all employees have Wipro has put in place
been asked to download the measures such as thermal
government's contact-tracing screening using contact-less
app Aarogya Setu. According to infrared thermometers, sanitiz-
Apparao V V, chief human er dispensers in each floor, and
resources officer at HCL have advised staff to enable dig-
Technologies, employees will ital payment mode on their
only be permitted to use office phones to pay at cafeterias.
transport for some time, and Despite taking such safety
each cab is being sanitized.
TCS is screening tempera-
measures, most IT services
firms are planning to allow
ture at all entry points, apart employees to resume work
from doing deep cleaning and from offices in various phases.
disinfecting of office premises. Infosys is planning to work
“We are resuming operations in with 5 per cent of employees in
a phased manner in select office for now, which it will
offices with minimal capacity. take to 30-40 per cent in next
We have also rolled out guide- six months.
lines on our campuses,” said a “We are not in a hurry and
TCS spokesperson. we will be happy with this
Infosys, which has started 3-5 per cent (working from
reopening campuses with min- office) because the risk will be
imal workforce, has taken less for us in that way,” said
measures like temperature Apparao of HCL Technologies.